IF TV has gone to the dogs lately, there’s no reason the dogs can’t go to TV.

The first reality show about pets – called “Greatest American Dog” – is set to debut next month, but already CBS is pushing the new summer series with a heavy rotation of promos.

The series is a sort of a cross between “Big Brother” and “American Idol” that pits 12 dogs and their quirky owners against each other in a bid to win $250,000.

Naturally, they all live together in the same house – with predictable results.

The dogs range from teacup-sized “pageant dogs” to those simply trained at home. The owners are a different story.

One of the Randy/Paula/Simon panel of judges is quirky pet magazine publisher Wendy Diamond, who has been a familiar fixture in gossip columns and on morning TV pushing pet causes.

“The dogs were more normal than the people,” says Diamond, who is rarely seen without her pup Lucky, a Maltese she adopted in 1999.

“I just think, in general, dogs get along better than the people,” says Diamond, and this show is no exception.

“Greatest American Dog” host, Animal Planet’s Jarod Miller, 30, describes the contestants as a group of eccentric dog people similar, “to the goofy characters from the [dog-show comedy] ‘Best in Show.’ ”

The competition, however, is less about getting the dogs to perform than the quality of the bond between pet and owner.

“I was looking for puppy love,” says Diamond. “I was looking for the bond, the commitment and the communication that each contestant shared with their dog.

“I really didn’t care how high the dog could jump or how well it could dance,” she says, “because, like some people, some dogs just have two left paws.”

One owner considers his skateboarding bulldog a “fraternity brother.” Another gave his terrier a $10,000 “Bark Mitzvah.”

CBS is leaning hard on promoting the show because – in theory, at least – it has something for everyone.

Some will tune in because they love the animals, others because they can’t believe the owners. “For some, an emotional relationship with a dog is probably the closest relationship they may have with another living being,” says Dr. Charles Goodstein, a psychiatrist at NYU Langone Medical Center.

“And a dog, by and large, doesn’t ask for much and gives a lot,” he says.